5 Things Bruins' Fans Can be Thankful For - The Hockey Writers - Boston Bruins

The Continued Excellence of the Perfection Line
The Window is Still Open

In honor of the start of the holiday season, let’s take a look at some reasons for Bruins fans to be thankful this year. While the 2019-20 season didn’t end the way anyone would have liked, there were still plenty of positives to come out of it. There’s also still reason to be excited about the team as the 2020-21 season draws closer (hopefully).

The Continued Excellence of the Perfection Line

The “Perfection Line” of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak has been one of the best lines in hockey over the last several seasons. The line has covered up a lot of the weaknesses in the Bruins’ forward depth during the regular season, and they’re also just fun to watch. When this line is on the ice, more often than not, you’ll see something exciting happen.

In 2019-20, Pastrnak and Marchand both finished top ten in regular-season scoring. Bergeron was named a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for a record-setting ninth consecutive season and had a faceoff win percentage of 57.9. Bergeron and Marchand are 35 and 32, respectfully, yet seem to be only getting better with age.

There are some good arguments for splitting up the perfection line to try and cover up for some of the team’s continued struggles with consistent depth scoring. Moving Pastrnak to the second line to play with David Krejci seems to be the most popular suggestion that gets floated around. But the idea has been tossed around for a while now, and coach Bruce Cassidy seems hesitant to split up the three of them. It’s hard to think about splitting up a group that is so successful when they’re on the ice together.

The Window is Still Open

All of this culminates to the ultimate reason for Bruins’ fans to be thankful going into the next season; the window is still open. Is it getting smaller? Yes. But this is the NHL, where the difference between one team making the playoffs over another often comes down to only a point or two, where wild card teams can take out the number one seeds in the first round of the postseason.

Boston Bruins Tuukka Rask Brad Marchand Patrice Bergeron — Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask is congratulated by teammates Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

On paper, the Bruins aren’t necessarily better going into 2020-21, but they are far from untalented. It won’t be easy; the Tampa Bay Lightning are still elite, and other Atlantic teams have made some excellent moves this offseason. But if we’ve learned anything in the last year, it’s that anything and everything can happen and change in a split second.